Brok Weaver was forced to overcome a couple of big hurdles en route to his UFC contract win on this week’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Las Vegas, NV — Sometimes, you do get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s the case with Brok Weaver (14-4), who hit a few roadblocks heading to this season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Weaver, who gave an emotional speech following the fight, got the job done against Devin Smyth, earning a UFC contract despite the bout going the distance. Asked post-fight which was better, the performance in the cage or the speech, Weaver joked with media outlets including Cageside Press that it was “definitely the speech, man. That’s what I trained mostly for. The fighting just comes natural. I’m in this to be an actor. I ain’t going to fight all my life and get any uglier than I already am.”
In all seriousness, Weaver has been through quite the roller coaster in recent career, with a number of potential shots at the UFC falling through.
“It was bad, but my whole career it’s been taken away from me,” he said of opponents falling through — such as Leon Shahbazyan, who dropped out last minute earlier this year, on the first episode of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 3. But then, that’s nothing new. “I fought December 21, I got scheduled to fight one of my best friends and training partners at the time, Tyler Hill, because they couldn’t find anybody else to take the fight, because Dana was supposed to be there [filming] Lookin’ for a Fight in Pensecola, at Roy Jones’ Island Fights.”
Then, having agreed to fight a friend, another hiccup. “The day of, the night before the fight, [White] breaks his foot, and all that happens, he can’t show.”
So much for Lookin’ For a Fight. Next stop, the season opener of the Contender Series.
“Couple more fights, got here, week one, and the night of weigh-in Sean Shelby calls and says ‘stop cutting weight, your opponent [Leon Shahbazyan] got sick, he was doing some ice bath, sauna, ice bath, sauna, sent his body into shock or something,'” Weaver recalled. “I really don’t know what happened. I’ve cut 55 plenty of times, I’ve gotten sick, and you’ve just got to deal with it, just got to believe in yourself and fight anyway man.”
Weaver believes it might be a question of heart, as to why his opponent pulled out. “I don’t believe he really wanted to fight me. You never know. He fights again next week, Leon Shahbazyan, if he gets that contract, we might make it happen again. I’ll make it 180 for him if he’s having trouble coming down.” But in any case, the fight was off, and it was another missed shot at the UFC.
Still, he’s in the UFC now, following week eight of this year’s Contender Series. Contract in hand. You might call it destiny, but Weaver added that “I don’t believe in destiny. I believe you make your own destiny.”
Watch the full press scrum with Brok Weaver from Dana White’s Contender Series Season 3, Week 8 above!
